Chapter 3One Paintbrush Ended Our Marriage

There was no comfort in his face, no worry, only irritation.

Ethan frowned.

"Jenna, Summer worked hard on this exhibition.

"She put months into it.

"Don't make a scene here."

I stared at him.

Tears came before I could stop them.

For one second, the anger in his expression weakened.

Then he grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.

He opened the car door and pushed me into the back seat.

When I tried to get past him, he took my phone.

"Ethan, have you lost your mind?

"Don't tell me that while I nearly died giving birth, you were here helping your mistress put on an art show."

"Watch your mouth."

He shoved me back into the seat.

Then slammed the door and locked the car.

My head struck the door.

Pain twisted through my lower abdomen.

The world tilted.

I forced myself upright and pulled at the handle.

"Ethan.

"Let me out."

"Two hours."

He looked at his watch.

"Summer's exhibition ends in two hours.

"After that, I'll drive you home."

His eyes were cold.

"Jenna, unless you want our next stop to be the courthouse, control your temper.

"You know I don't respond well when people push me."

Then he walked away.

I hit the window, called his name, begged.

He never turned around.

I was afraid.

Afraid he would really leave me.

So I stayed locked inside the car under the late-summer sun for more than two hours.

My strength slowly disappeared.

Something felt wrong in my abdomen.

I watched through the glass as the exhibition ended.

Ethan stood beside Summer.

He greeted guests with her and saw people out.

Finally, he remembered me.

When he opened the car door and found me lying quietly in the back, he misunderstood.

"Jenna.

"You've gotten much better at calming down.

"Don't worry.

"We're married.

"I'll take responsibility for you.

"As for Summer, she's only an artist with commercial value to the company.

"There won't be anything else between us."

I didn't answer.

He thought I was sulking.

"Come on.

"Let's go see Lily.

"Mom told me you named her Lily.

"I like it."

Then he touched my hand.

It was cold.

Only then did he see the blood beneath me.

"Jenna!"

When I woke again, I was in the hospital.

This time, Ethan was the first person I saw.

He sat by the bed cutting an apple into slices and watching the IV.

There was a clear handprint across his cheek.

"You're awake.

"Does anything hurt?"

I shook my head weakly.

His sudden attentiveness made me feel like I was dreaming.

For the next several days, he barely left.

He took care of me until the night before discharge.

That evening, I couldn't find him in the room.

I followed the faint smell of smoke and found him in the stairwell.

He stood by the window speaking quietly on the phone.

"Jenna got sick."

He sighed.

"The doctor said her postpartum recovery wasn't complete.

"The hours she spent locked in a hot car made it much worse.

"Yeah.

"It's serious."

He took a long drag from the cigarette.

"Her uterus was badly damaged.

"She may never be able to carry another pregnancy."

My whole body went cold.

Then he continued.

"My mother said she'd skin me alive if I didn't stay until Jenna was discharged."

He rubbed his brow.

"How did I end up stuck with someone this exhausting?

"Can't get rid of her.

"Can't even provoke her without everyone jumping on me."

I backed away.

The stairwell door closed in the wind.

Ethan looked toward it.

But I was already gone.

The person on the other end must have said something.

He put out his cigarette hard.

"Of course I care about her.

"I've always thought of Jenna as a younger sister.

"If I could have bled in her place, I would have."